Vinegar has been used for centuries as a health tonic with a variety of medical uses. You can easily kill slugs and snails by using vinegar. Check out these secrets of people who have impeccable homes (they’re not rich). Or pour the vinegar onto a rag and wipe them off. Vinegar is commonly used in food preparation, in particular pickling liquids, vinaigrettes and other salad dressings. To remove marks left by wet glasses on wood furniture, mix equal parts vinegar and olive oil and apply it with a soft cloth while moving with the wood grain. If soap scum or water spots have dulled the ceramic tiles around your sink or bath, bring back the brightness by scrubbing them with 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup ammonia, and 1/4 cup borax mixed in 1 gallon (3.7 liters) warm water. Add a cup of vinegar to a plastic storage bag. When your scissor blades get sticky or grimy, don’t use water to wash them off; you’re far more likely to rust the fastener that holds the blades together—or the blades themselves—than get them clean. I place the bread on something so it won’t mess up the bottom of the garbage bin if your going to continue to use it the same day. Acetic acid, which is present in all vinegar, is what makes it an effective cleaner. If Fido has an unpleasant encounter with an ornery skunk, here are some ways to help him get rid of the smell: Now that you have an array of vinegar hacks and uses in your cleaning archives, check out these secrets of people who always have a clean house. To eliminate lime and mineral deposits in a teakettle, bring 3 cups full-strength white vinegar to a full boil for five minutes and leave the vinegar in the kettle overnight. Inexpensive, unassuming vinegar has cleaning, deodorizing, and softening capabilities that have made it an indispensable part of my around-the-house arsenal. (If the tracks are really dirty, heat the vinegar in a glass container for 30 seconds in your microwave first.) better for the evironment, better for my health and … Use the same technique to detach those cute decals your kids used to decorate the back windshield. This homemade version of the popular “Soft Scrub” cleaner works every bit as well as the real thing. To restore it to its former glory, mix equal parts white vinegar and boiled linseed oil in a recycled spray bottle, shake it up well, and spray it on. Have a grease-splattered oven door? Put the shimmer back in your brass, bronze, and copper objects by making a paste of equal parts white vinegar and salt, or vinegar and baking soda (wait for the fizzing to stop before using). To get a thermos bottle clean, fill it with warm water and 1/4 cup white vinegar. Next time you run out of champagne vinegar for your favorite recipes, replace it with rice vinegar using a 1:1 ratio. Sponge the area with undiluted vinegar and launder immediately afterward. Did you bring home fruit flies from the market? 1. A Simple Fix for Smelly Towels Does a paintbrush seem beyond hope? Vinegar is used in cooking, baking, and salad dressings and as a preservative. Here are 20 uses for apple cider vinegar (ACV) that will inspire you to incorporate it into your daily routine too. It’ll leave them gleaming. You can use vinegar to clean your microwave; remove grease; remove mold, mildew, and mineral deposits; clean carpeting; as a furniture polish; remove stains on clothing; remove crayon marks; clean stainless steel; clean window blinds; remove copper and brass tarnish; clean glass; and use it as a DVD and CD cleaner. Work the paste around the cooking surface and the outside of the utensil, then rinse off with warm water and dry thoroughly with a soft dish towel. Vinegar’s principal uses are the flavouring of foods and the preservation, or pickling, of meat products, fish, fruit, and vegetables. There are also many vinegar uses for your kitchen. Let it settle for a few minutes, then blot thoroughly with a clean, dry cloth. There are also a lot of helpful vinegar uses when it comes to doing laundry. Does that dirty wheel blade of your electric can opener look like it’s seen at least one can too many? Moisten a cotton ball with the rinse and use it to wipe your face clean and dry. Cleaning drains: Pour 1/2 cup baking soda in the drain, followed by 1/2 cup vinegar; the mixture will foam as it cleans and deodorizes. Wash away blockages and mineral deposits from removable showerheads by placing them in 1 quart (1 liter) boiling water with 1/2 cup distilled vinegar for 10 minutes (use hot, not boiling, liquid for plastic showerheads). It is made by crushing apples, then squeezing out the juice. Keep an old toothbrush on hand to work the solution into corners and other tight spaces. It also soothes minor itches from mosquito bites and such. Vinegar amazing benefits includes treating allergies, balancing alkali, fighting microbial, treating hypertension, fighting cancer, fighting oral bacteria, promoting hair growth, maintaining skin elasticity, lowering high blood sugar, helps burn fat, helps reduce cholesterol level, relieves acid reflux, and improves gut health. There’s a lot of acid in it, so drinking vinegar straight isn’t recommended. To make it much less noticeable, mix some distilled or cider vinegar and iodine in a small jar and paint over the scratch with a small artist’s brush. To do this, dip some rags of old cloth in white vinegar and create a kind of “fence” around your garden with them. But you can keep the paint stuck to the cement longer by giving the floor an initial coat of white vinegar before you paint it. Watch out for these ways you’re cleaning your bathroom wrong. There are all sorts of other bathroom vinegar uses. Saturate the top and sides of the sticker with undiluted distilled vinegar and wait 10-15 minutes for the vinegar to soak through. Similarly, to see if your soil has a high acidity, mix the earth with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup baking soda. Vinegar is an acidic liquid that is made by fermentation of foods containing ethanol (like wine and rice) or natural sugar. In a perfect world, laundry would emerge from the dryer freshly pressed. To keep your everyday glassware gleaming, add 1/4 cup vinegar to your dishwasher’s rinse cycle. Everyone likes to keep cut flowers around as long as possible, and there are several good vinegar uses that can help with this. Most leather tabletops will come clean simply by wiping them down with a soft cloth dipped in 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup water. To clean chrome and stainless steel fixtures around your home, apply a light misting of undiluted white vinegar from a recycled spray bottle. Fill the item with equal parts vinegar and warm, soapy water and let it stand for 10-15 minutes. To use, dilute one part apple cider vinegar with one part water. Just go over the bricks with a damp cloth dipped in 1 cup white vinegar mixed with 1 gallon (3.7 liters) warm water. Balsamic and red wine vinegar are used mostly for cooking and salad dressing. Replace used traps with new ones as needed. If your family is too lazy to use coasters, you might end up with white rings dotting the coffee table. Keep the flying gate-crashers at bay by giving them their own VIP section. Try these vinegar uses around the outside of your home to give it an update. Resoak the rags about every 7-10 days. It has been used as a treatment for allergies, flu, sore throat, acid reflux, gout and other ailments. Use more full-strength vinegar to get rid of any remaining gluey residue. If you have really grimy windows, you’ll want to wash them with an extra strength solution. If your plastic ice trays are covered with hard-water stains—or if it’s been a while since you’ve cleaned them—a few cups of white vinegar can help you in either case. In the morning, empty the basin and run your washer through a complete cycle. If those tattered old bumper stickers on your car make you feel more nauseated than nostalgic, it’s time to break out the vinegar. Punch a few holes in the lid, screw it back on, and you’re good to go. Let it foam and bubble for five to ten minutes, then rinse with a cloth dipped in clean cold water. Instead, wipe down the blades with a cloth dipped in full-strength white vinegar, and then dry it off with a rag or dish towel. Check out these cleaning tasks you can do in one minute or less. You can use vinegar to clean your microwave; remove grease; remove mold, mildew, and mineral deposits; clean carpeting; as a furniture polish; remove stains on clothing; remove crayon marks; clean stainless steel; clean window blinds; remove copper and brass tarnish; clean glass; and use it … After cleaning up the mess, it’s essential to remove the scent from your floor, carpeting, or sofa. This same technique will also help keep paint affixed to galvanized metal. To rid drinking glasses of cloudiness or spots caused by hard water, heat up a pot of equal parts white vinegar and water (use full-strength vinegar if your glasses are very cloudy), and let them soak in it for 15-30 minutes. Either problem can be resolved by watering the soil around the afflicted plants once a week for three weeks with 1 cup of a solution made by mixing 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar in 1 quart (1 liter) water. It has a sweet, rather delicate flavor and is less acidic compared to most types of vinegar. Use vinegar to remove accumulated dirt and grime from the tracks of your shower doors. If you’re cleaning a bottle or jar, close it up and give it a few good shakes; otherwise, use a bottle brush to scrape off the remains before thoroughly rinsing. If you want to keep Snowball and Fluffy out of the kids’ playroom, or discourage them from using your favorite easy chair as a scratching post, sprinkle some full-strength distilled white vinegar around the area or onto the object itself. 1/2 to 1 cup per load and the money you spend will save you the big bucks of repairs later. 1/2 to 1 cup per load and the money you spend will save you the big bucks of repairs later. You’ll never have to worry about running colors again! Here’s an easy and efficient way to get those grimy fingerprints and stains off your piano keys. Don’t stop at the shower when you’re cleaning with vinegar! First, remove the contents, then wash down the walls, ceiling, and floor with a cloth dampened in a solution of 1 cup each of vinegar and ammonia and 1/4 cup baking soda in 1 gallon (3.7 liters) water. Rub the solution into the stain, then blot it dry before washing. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Use straight vinegar. Then spray the mixture on painted surfaces, tiles, windows, or wherever you see mold or mildew spots. Give the mixture a couple of minutes to settle in; then blot it up with a cloth or paper towel. If the smell persists, place a small pan of cat litter inside. You can keep these unauthorized visitors out of your garden by soaking several recycled rags in white vinegar and placing them on stakes around your veggies. You can also prevent mildew from forming on the bottoms of rugs and carpeting by misting the backs with full-strength white vinegar from a spray bottle. For instance, if you notice ants are attracted to an item in your kitchen, such as a sugar jar, you can use adhesive tape. Use equal parts white vinegar and water to wash both the interior and exterior of your fridge, including the door gasket and the fronts of the vegetable and fruit bins. Use vinegar to dissolve mineral buildup in showerheads. Watch out for these ways you didn’t realize you’re overcleaning your house. Keep a journal that catalogues your use of apple cider vinegar and your energy levels, hunger pangs, appetite spikes, sleeping habits and weight loss. Use a soft scrub brush to work the solution into the stains or just let it soak in. Cleaning vinegar can be used to deodorize mildew-ridden towels, stinky gym clothes, and pet accidents. Use a clean towel to dry off any remaining liquid. It can be used as a substitute for other ingredients, to marinate meat, preserve foods, and make all manner of gourmet treats, even cheese. To create a vinegar spray that works on garden insects, combine three parts water with one part vinegar in a spray bottle and add a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. Fill a second spray bottle with 1 part non-sudsy ammonia and 5 parts water. Ants hate the smell of vinegar. Early in the season, give each plant a single spritz of vinegar in its midsection, or in the middle of the flower before the plants go to seed. Spray the vinegar on the trouble area. Use a vinegar solution and follow the directions on Hints from Heloise. Let the solution dry, then vacuum. Older, set-in stains will often come out in the wash after being pretreated with a solution of 3 tablespoons white vinegar and 2 tablespoons liquid detergent in 1 quart (1 liter) warm water. You can use it for pickling just like any other. Then use a moistened cotton swab to clean out the gunk and debris from inside the ball chamber (let it dry a couple of hours before reinserting the ball). Get the chemicals, dust, odor, and whatever else out of your brand-new or secondhand clothes by pouring 1 cup white vinegar into the wash cycle the first time you wash them. All you need to do is add one-half cup to one full cup of cleaning vinegar to your washing machine during the final rinse cycle. For severe stains, add 1-2 cups vinegar to the wash cycle as well. If it’s getting increasingly difficult to identify the white socks in your sock drawer, here’s a simple way to make them so bright you can’t miss them. I use vinegar regularily in the washing machine to: 1) Prevents any and all mineral build-up on the plumbing lines, pumps, etc. If you are on the hunt for an affordable handyman, plumber, or pest control specialist, vinegar is all you need for the job. If you do not have a spray bottle handy, you can also use a disposable cloth. White vinegar and boiled linseed oil may sound like an interesting mix, but be careful of the three things you should never mix with vinegar. You may need to use a handful of swabs, but the vinegar will kill the fluffy monsters and any eggs left behind. 8. Removing old wallpaper can be messy, but you can make it peel off easily by soaking it with a vinegar solution. Erin Huffstetler is a writer with experience writing about easy ways to save money at home. You can remove scorch marks from the soleplate of your iron by scrubbing it with a paste made by heating up equal parts vinegar and salt in a small pan. The alpha-hydroxy acids in apple cider vinegar are gently exfoliating and can help with cell turnover on dark spots. 21. When your wooden cutting surface needs deodorizing as well as disinfecting, spread some baking soda over it and then spray on undiluted white vinegar. Culinary uses. Has your leather sofa or easy chair lost its luster? Repeat until the marks are gone. As you guessed, the two will react and break up the clog. Cover the area thoroughly with the vinegar. Many people wash fruits and vegetables in apple cider vinegar to remove chemical residues left over from the pesticides used when growing the food. 11. You can use vinegar to treat a host of plant diseases, including rust, black spot, and powdery mildew. To make them as good as new, dampen a cloth or rag with some full-strength white vinegar and run it down the full length of each blade once or twice. Are you tired of seeing those old sweat rings around your shirt collars or under the arms? For instance, pour a bit of undiluted white vinegar onto a soft cloth and use it to wipe your chrome faucets, towel racks, bathroom mirrors, doorknobs, and such. Place a bowl filled with apple cider vinegar near some food, but away from you and guests. Pour equal parts water and white vinegar into a spray bottle. If you have soft water, clean your coffeemaker after 80 brew cycles—after 40 cycles if you have hard water. 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